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Nadine Figueroa
Nadine Sofia Figueroa, also known as the Humanitarian, is a young heiress with a passion for helping others… Despite not knowing how to help them, what their problems are, or even how to refer to people below her social standing. She wants to lift the ‘less fortunate’ out of poverty and give them the same opportunities as everyone else (ie: herself), but struggles to do so. Personality Nadine was born into a large family of entrepreneurs. Her extended family is very close (literally and metaphorically), and there is no shortage of geniuses on both sides. Inventors, investors, actors, eccentric millionaires, adventurers, honored military veterans, and rumored royalty: all in her blood. Despite this, Nadine is rather… average. She isn’t smart, but isn’t dumb; she’s pretty, but not too pretty; she isn’t a performer, but she can be charming. Her only real talent seems to be listening, and her only real virtue is patience. Despite being about as interesting as a rock, Nadine is a very genuine and loving person who sincerely wants to improve the world. Being surrounded by so many wealthy people who have had their heads FIRMLY lodged in their asses for the past several centuries, she heard a lot about how the poor need help, the poor need government assistance, the poor don’t know how to spend their money… From an early age, she latched onto the idea that she and SHE ALONE could help those poor people become self-sufficient!! Backstory 'Early Life' Nadine was born in Italy to Belinda and Manuel Figueroa, the heads of two extremely wealthy families who had married as part of a business move. She grew up primarily in the United States, but moved around frequently to keep up with her parents’ lifestyle. Never stop, never take breaks, work constantly, never give up. Nadine never felt any shortage of love however—her family is HUGE and was always nearby, showering her with attention and gifts. It is perhaps because of this that she never developed any hobbies other than socializing. She eventually attended boarding school, as most members of her family did, and Nadine was a responsible young Catholic schoolgirl. She studied hard, made average grades, had lots of friends… Lots of rebellious friends, mostly. Nadine met her lifelong friend, Wanda Matos, when she got her one and only detention. She was asked to stay behind after class after not turning in an assignment that counted for a sizable percentage of her grade, and Wanda was asked to stay behind for sleeping in class (due to her narcolepsy). Nadine struck up a conversation when the Sister left them alone for just a SECOND, and Wanda’s life story was so interesting that Nadine sought her out after they were punished. At this point, Wanda still went by Juan—it wasn’t until several years later that Wanda would even realize she was trans. Wanda coming from such a different background was shocking to Nadine, and was a big part of her early humanitarian efforts. Wanda inspired her in a way that her rich friends couldn’t, but their schedules prevented them from spending as much time together as Nadine would like. She took it upon herself to research the lives of the ‘less fortunate’, and her research led her to a lot of extreme and silly examples. Still, Nadine latched onto those examples because she didn’t know any better. Her first protest was an attempt to send her school’s leftover food to local homeless shelters… Not realizing that the leftovers could be contaminated, and it was likely illegal to do so. After several years of discipline by the Sisters and a LOT more failed protests, Nadine told her family that she wanted to devote her life to humanitarian efforts, and they reluctantly allowed her to invite the ‘less fortunate’ (usually Wanda) to their palatial estates on vacation for… Honestly for fun, but they DID manage to work with charities here and there. Over time, Nadine realized that her family would shell out small sums of money for any crazy cause she came up with, and she had scammed enough to get a little more careful with her funds, so she got sneaky. Her family could afford not to pay attention to her finances, but Nadine made a point to make sure their money was going where she wanted it to go—usually into side accounts which she would THEN pull money from for charitable donations and trips to impoverish countries. She didn’t have a lot of other hobbies to focus on, since every hobby she took interest in was already being done professionally (or at least at a professional level) by a family member she saw every weekend, so she made Philanthropy her hobby. 'After Graduation' When Nadine finally graduated from her boarding school (with Wanda by her side, having finally come out) she insisted upon taking a year to tour the country with a small group of friends. Nadine wanted to forego a higher education and instead go directly into the Peace Corps. Her family was very against this idea from the start. Her father wanted her to follow in his footsteps and take up the family business (managing a sugar company, based out of Michigan); her mother wanted her to be a trophy wife, bringing more wealth and prestige into the family with an arranged marriage; her grandmother wanted her to go into the military; her uncles wanted her to go on mission trips… You get the idea. The Figueroa Family had much grander and more focused plans for Nadine than she did for herself, and all wanted to wait until she eventually got over this idea of ‘helping the less fortunate’. They had assorted reasons for not supporting her vague protests on a moral level (not supporting government assistance, thinking Nadine is stupid, thinking Nadine is incapable, thinking her goals are too broad, etc.) and remained politely disinterested whenever it was brought up. They’d passively support all her fundraising, no matter how silly (Save the Narwhals? How does this decrease poverty??) or how obviously Nadine had been scammed (Oh yes dear, you can send that Nigerian Prince five dollars… just don’t do it with this credit card). But, to them the Peace Corps was a waste of time—after all, how could that possibly add to their prestigious name when they already had war heroes and Nobel Peace Prize winners? Traveling Abroad When her family made their disapproval clear on the issue of joining the Peace Corps., Nadine had her first serious fight with them and left to travel Europe with her friends. Slowly but surely, they all returned home except for Wanda—the two were almost never separated during that entire year. Nadine had a lot of ‘firsts’ during that year. Freshly an adult, she met her first love: a fellow traveler who joined with her and Wanda for a few months. He was very clearly mooching off of the heiress, which Wanda was quick to point out, but Nadine didn’t notice or care. Lots of people mooched off of her, and she kept telling herself that if he wasn’t SO poor and SO needy (he was actually fairly well off, just didn’t want to spend his own money) then he wouldn’t need so much from her! She lost her virginity to him, and was heartbroken when he eventually left her to chase another skirt. First love, first heartbreak, her first big fight with Wanda (over said heartbreaker) … It was a life-changing experience for Nadine. She returned home a stronger and more confident woman, eager to take on the world. Dated around a lot (even taking the role of a sub for a year), participated in every charity and social event possible, and blogged about her experiences. This is most likely where she met her current boyfriend, Manchu Zhen. Appearances N/A Trivia * Nadine encouraged Wanda to set up a crowd funding campaign to fund her transition (though Wanda had no desire to go under the knife, she did want to start therapy and hormones). She reached her goal within one day through one ‘anonymous’ donation, which obviously came from Nadine but she will always deny this. * She has no real talents of her own, but Nadine LOVES to hear others talk about their passions and hobbies. She could spend hours listening to someone talk about the most mundane of things—it all fascinates her. * Nadine’s favorite clothing brand is Gucci. * Her style is described as ‘Rachel Berry (Glee), but high fashion’. Gallery x See Also x Category:Female Category:Characters